


Multitudes

by postersonthewall



Category: The Wilds (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Island, lots of cuteness, soft, toni shaves shelbys head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:15:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28787055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postersonthewall/pseuds/postersonthewall
Summary: I imagine that Toni was the one that shaved Shelby's hair off - here's how I think it would go like.
Relationships: Shelby Goodkind/Toni Shalifoe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 162





	Multitudes

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy :) Comments are always appreciated.

“Toni, where are you taking me?”

“I’ve gotta show you something just keep following me yea?”

Toni’s soft and cautious smile was enough to convince Shelby to keep walking through the twisted concrete walls of the facility they had been brought to; holding Toni’s hand and letting the shorter brunette weave her throughout the halls.

“You’ll love where I’m taking you Goodkind”

Toni would throw in a comment like this excitedly here or there, and Shelby would catch the occasional giggle, but all she could think about was how much she loved Toni’s hair down. On the island Toni always had in a ponytail or those two braids that had become her signature look, but now that Shelby saw Toni’s long and unruly hair that went down past her shoulders she had decided that she definitely preferred it this way. Definitely.

They had just arrived at the facility earlier that day and much to Shelby’s surprise, she couldn’t remember a moment since then that Toni had let go of her hand. Toni’s hands were small but sturdy, and she soon learned that the cool, collected, and fiery Toni she had thought she knew was quite affectionate; she always needed to be touching Shelby. Not that Shelby minded. Not one bit.

“You know when you walk this fast and this far ahead I can hardly look at you.” Shelby said in a pointed way, but with a smile that said otherwise.

Toni stopped in her tracks and turned around quickly to meet the other girl’s eyes,

“Shelby. Are you flirting?” The lopsided grin plastered on Toni’s face was so endearing that Shelby didn’t know if she should kiss the girl or shove her. She decided on something in the middle,

“Well you’re one hell of a flirt Toni, I’d hate to not keep up.”

Seeing the blush rush to Toni’s cheeks at that comment as she turned around and continued walking, arguably faster, was enough for Shelby to know that she had indeed made the right call with her response. 

Shelby even swore she heard the bashful Toni whisper a quiet “Shut up.” This was a success to be celebrated.

Shelby couldn’t help but smile when she was around Toni, especially post-island Toni. What was once an apprehensive and angry girl had turned into a goofy, hilarious, and light hearted optimist. When they had reached the facility Toni was practically skipping around, cracking jokes ,throwing people a couple of funny faces to lighten the mood. It was a side of Toni that Shelby had never seen and a side she wanted to see forever.

Forever.

That was probably the first time in Shelby’s recent memory she had thought of that word and hadn’t immediately felt nauseous. Before she could muse more on what that meant, she was interrupted,

“We’re here, come on!! Come on!”

Shelby couldn’t help but laugh at Toni’s happy little dance as she dragged Shelby into a door on the right of the hallway. When they had safely got into what looked like an empty storage closet, Shelby said;

“Alright alright, hold your horses Toni - wait. What’s your last name?”

Toni rolled her eyes,

“Goodkind, you don’t know me at all if you’d think I’d give away that information for free.”

A combination between the glint in Toni’s eyes, the raise of her left eyebrow, and the smirk on her face told Shelby all she needed to know about what would appease her.

And so she did just what she knew Toni wanted.

Slowly holding Toni’s face in her hands she pushed the shorter girl up against the door they had just shut and started kissing her softly. Toni hummed approvingly into the kiss and moved her hands to rest on Shelby’s waist, which gave her butterflies beyond compare. 

Shelby loved kissing Toni. 

She loved how Toni would always let her initiate before she deepened the kiss. She loved how Toni would always smile into their kisses whenever she had the chance, and gently squeeze Shelby’s waist to let her know when she was doing good. 

Shelby adored the way Toni made her feel. When she kissed Toni, even the residual shame she felt from it would soften its edges, almost surrendering itself to Toni with the raise of a white flag. She loved how Toni made Shelby feel beautiful in a way that wasn’t measured by a contestant number card or a panel of judges; but measured instead by the gentle movements of her hands and the deepening of a kiss. Moments with Toni like this were pauses that Shelby had so desperately been looking for her whole life. 

“Let me show you something.” Toni mumbled into the kiss.

Shelby leaned in for more and Toni gave her one last peck before offering up a giggle and moving her way out of Shelby’s arms much to Shelby’s whiny protests. Shelby still had her eyes closed, leaning against the doorframe when she heard,

“Shalifoe. My last name is Shalifoe.”

Shelby took an intake of breath and heard Toni shuffle around with some of the objects in the storage closet they were currently stowaways in. She kept her eyes closed and whispered that to herself; Shalifoe, seeing how the word felt on her lips. Shelby thought it must’ve been the most beautiful thing she’d ever heard.

“Come sit down.” 

Toni’s voice snapped Shelby from her trance and she opened her eyes to see Toni cross legged on the floor sitting in front of a dusty mirror propped up against the wall, with rusted silver clippers in her hands.

Shelby’s wide eyes at the sight caused some panic in Toni,

“You don’t have to! You really don’t I just, I’m not sure you kept talking about your hair to me and how much of a pain it was to take care of and I sort of figured maybe this would be a good step for you but obviously no pressure.”

Shelby had to suppress her laughter at Toni’s rambling, and as she went to sit down she pressed a sloppy but sweet kiss to Toni’s cheek and whispered,

“Let’s do it.”

“Wait, really?” 

The furious light in Toni’s eyes and smile on her face made Shelby doubt she should trust the smaller and chaotic girl with a set of clippers but gave in anyway.

“Yup” She said, popping the p, “I want it all off.”

The girls situated themselves, with Toni sitting beside Shelby and having Shely propped up on her chest, wrapping her arms around her so she could reach the clippers to the front of the hair to start shaving it off. Right before she was about to start Shelby reached for her hand and said,

“Wait, can I ask a favour from you?”

Toni smiled that warm smile of hers at Shelby in the mirror, causing both girls to blush.

“Course babe.”

If the smile had made Shelby blush, the babe set her face on fire.

“I want to ask you questions while you do it.”

Toni did this little thing where she quirked her head to the right and softly grinned,

“Mhm okay, we can do that.”

Shortly thereafter bits of blond hair were scattered across the concrete floor of the storage room, landing on both the girls and causing quite the mess.

“First question Shalifoe - what’s your favourite colour?”

Toni fake cringed,

“Oop, you’ve gone too far there babe, that’s way too personal. That’s more of a third date question”

Shelby rolled her eyes and gently slapped Toni’s arm, raising her eyebrow expectedly.

“Well” Toni huffed out, “if you must know, my favourite colour is purple.”

“What kind of purple?”

“All kinds of purple.”

“All kinds of purple?”

“Every shade of it. Now, are you gonna return the favour and tell me yours?”

“Yellow”

“Yellow?”

“Mhm.”

Toni smiled at that,

“Yellow” She repeated, “that’s fitting, Shelby.”

“Next question Toni, where are you taking me on our first date?”

Toni raised her eyebrow at Shelby in the mirror causing Shelby to giggle. She wasn’t sure where this boldness was coming from, but she was aching for an answer,

“Mhm, first date eh? How does a nice vacation to a tropical island sound?”

Shelby burst out laughing at this, hitting Toni on the arm once again.

“I’m serious, baby.”

Toni attempted to hide the blush and small smile accompanying the endearing name but Shelby caught it and it made her heart soar.

“Honestly Shelby, how does a movie night sound? With all this outdoorsy shit I think we could use a little bit of a pyjama day.”

“That sounds perfect.” Shelby closed her eyes and smiled. 

This rapid fire questioning went on for quite a while, and with each question Shelby knew more and more about the girl who was gently cradling her and shaving her head. Shelby could’ve never imagined herself in this situation, but with each of Toni’s answers and each strand of hair that fell, she could almost feel the world around her lighten up. 

Shelby learned that Toni’s favourite meal was pasta. Pasta of any sort, 

“The cheesier the better.” As Toni had put it.

Shelby learned also that Toni couldn’t drive, she had a birthmark on her left big toe, her first detention was a week into first grade and her most recent one had been the Friday before the island. She learned that Toni was given her first proper basketball from her mother; her mother who was currently in a rehabilitation centre in some town right off some Minnesota state highway. She learned that Toni’s drink of choice was a mango white claw, and that her strain of choice was indica. Shelby learned that Toni could ride a skateboard but not a bike, and that she was afraid of swimming in pools after a particularly haunting incident in grade school. She learned that Toni’s GPA was at a staggering 4.0 considering that she fell asleep in almost every class, and that Toni was only about 5’3”,

“But that’s 5’4” for you, thank you very much.” Toni had followed up with.

The questions went by so fast that when Toni nudged Shelby for attention, she looked in the mirror to find a person she didn’t recognize. A girl with a shaved head who was smiling this huge smile she hadn’t seen her make in ages.

“Do you like it?” She asked Toni quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Fuck yea Goodkind.” Toni said as she ruffled her hand over Shelby’s head, “You’ve finally got a cut to back up that badass persona you always say you have.”

Shelby smiled warmly as she moved her fingers through her freshly shaven hair. 

“Toni?”

“Yea?”

“Do you think God still loves me?”

There was a lengthy pause, an intake in breath, and then;

“Shelby, I think God built us to contain multitudes.”

Shelby looked in the mirror at herself, and for the first time recognizing the girl who looked back at her. And then she looked at Toni in the mirror and smiled. And Toni smiled back. 

She sure had multitudes, and she was learning to love each one.


End file.
